This Steam Deck guide covers something a lot of us have wanted for a long time: playing your Xbox PC Game Pass and Microsoft Store games natively on SteamOS. The tool that makes it happen is Xodus Nexus, a free launcher from GitHub that downloads and installs these games straight onto your Steam Deck or Steam Machine. This is not cloud gaming or streaming. The games live on your own storage and run locally, just like the rest of your library.
I have been testing it on my own setup, and honestly, it is a great experience. Below I walk through what the launcher is, how to set it up, how to get it into Gaming Mode, and which games are known to work right now.
What Xodus Nexus actually is
Xodus Nexus is an open-source, Xbox-inspired desktop launcher for Linux, built by developer domsvoboda on top of the Xodus project. It has three parts. The launcher itself handles store browsing, your library, the install queue and launch controls. The Nexus backend is a patched build of Xodus that takes care of account sign-in, licence checks, package downloads and launch preparation. The Nexus runtime is built on Xodus Proton and Xodus XGameRuntime with extra compatibility patches, and every game uses that same shared runtime.
It is worth being clear on two points. First, this is an independent, unofficial project. It is not affiliated with Microsoft or Xbox, and it is not an official release from the upstream Xodus developers either, so any problems should be reported on the Xodus Nexus GitHub page. Second, you still need a valid licence. You can only install games you own or can access through an active subscription such as PC Game Pass. Xbox sign-in and cloud saves are available for supported games.
Steam Deck guide: installing Xodus Nexus
Setup is pretty simple, and it all happens in Desktop Mode:
- Open your browser and go to the Xodus Nexus GitHub page, then grab the latest x86_64 AppImage from the Releases section. At the time of writing that is version 0.3.7.
- Find the file in your Downloads folder, make it executable if your system asks, then right-click it and launch it.
- Scroll down to Settings and install two components: the Nexus backend and the Nexus runtime. The launcher will not work without both.
- Sign in with your Microsoft account.
The project also offers an install script for desktop Linux distributions, but on SteamOS the developer recommends sticking with the AppImage rather than changing system packages. On SteamOS you need launcher 0.3.2 or newer with backend 0.2.3 or newer. Sign-in uses the launcher’s own window and unlocks the KDE keyring when needed, so complete any keyring prompt that pops up. If the Microsoft sign-in gets stuck waiting on a passkey, choose Continue in browser. That option needs Google Chrome, either installed natively or as the Flatpak from Discover.
Adding it to Steam for Gaming Mode
Once you are signed in, head back to Settings and choose Add Nexus to Steam. This creates a non-Steam shortcut with artwork, so the launcher shows up in Gaming Mode and you never need to go back to the desktop to play. You can also add individual games to Steam from each game’s menu. Steam can stay running while you do this, even in Gaming Mode. It needs the native Linux version of Steam, which is what SteamOS uses, as Flatpak Steam is not supported yet. If you like having everything in one place, this pairs nicely with my guide to installing other launchers with NonSteamLaunchers.
Controller navigation is there but marked as experimental. The D-pad or left stick moves around, A selects, B goes back, X opens a game’s menu and the bumpers switch pages. Press Steam + X for the on-screen keyboard. Sign-in windows and file pickers may still need the touchscreen or a mouse.
Browsing and installing your Game Pass library
My Library brings together your owned games, your Game Pass games and anything already installed, with filters for access type and play state plus a title search. Switch to the full catalogue and you can choose to see just the subscription titles or every Microsoft Store PC game. Pick a game, hit install, and it gets added to the Install Queue, which downloads one game at a time and supports pause and resume. You can keep adding games while something downloads or while you play.
I kicked off a Call of Duty install to try it, and the launcher showed it installing natively straight away. I have also been playing Halo: Campaign Evolved through it, and it just boots right up when I hit Play. If a game complains about missing Visual C++ files, right-click it in your library and choose the VC++ prerequisites option. The same menu also has game settings, shortcuts and removal.
Which games work right now
The project keeps a compatibility list based on manual testing and player reports, so check it before downloading anything huge. Titles listed as playable include Gears of War: E-Day, Forza Horizon 6, Sea of Thieves, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Palworld, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Minecraft Dungeons II, which I already found plays great on Steam Deck. Some come with notes. Halo: Campaign Evolved may keep running after you quit, and some Forza Horizon 6 setups need the VC++ prerequisites.
Not everything works yet. ARC Raiders launches but cannot connect to its online services, The Witcher 3 currently crashes on launch, and Hell Let Loose crashes at startup. The developer is also open that handheld support is still experimental and has mostly been tested on virtualised SteamOS, so expect the odd rough edge on real hardware.
My thoughts
This is something a lot of people have been asking for, and the community lately has been cooking. Being able to install Microsoft’s subscription library locally on Valve’s hardware, then launch it straight from Gaming Mode, is a big deal for anyone paying for PC Game Pass. It is early, it is unofficial and the compatibility list is still growing, but what is already there works really well. It is another reason the Steam Machine keeps looking like a proper living room console too, alongside tools like Asobi Remote Play for PS5 games. If you hit a problem after following this Steam Deck guide, open the backend diagnostic log under Settings first, then report it on the project’s GitHub page. Let me know in the comments which Game Pass games you get running.
